BTF to push for genocide investigation: HR activist

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 November 2012, 00:18 GMT]Palaka'ni interviews Human Rights Coordinator of British Tamils Forum (BTF), Kana Nirmalan, on the significance of the recent conference held by All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) and the BTF, with the participation of Tamil politicians and representatives from the Tamil homeland, Tamil Nadu and the diaspora. The resolution of the conference has demanded international independent investigations on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

On the immediate activities of the BTF after the passing of the resolution, Mr. Nirmalan said that they would be pushing for a venue change of the CHOGM meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in 2013. As another course of action, they would also urge the leaders of UK, India and Australia to boycott the event.

Responding to a question on what the British foreign office thought about the demand that talk about war crimes is not enough without addressing the issue of genocide, Mr. Nirmalan, citing Tamil political leaders who had met the British officials in the course of their visit to the conference, said that they had opined that what happened in the island was not war crimes but genocide and that Britain had responsibility to the Tamils for the creation of the unitary Ceylon state that privileged the Sinhalese.

“The frustration of everyone is that what is happening there (in Sri Lanka) is genocide, a genocide which is being silently watched by the international community. Now we have placed questions on the plate of the Foreign Office in order to bring a change in their principles. It is up to them to debate and deal with these that what is happening there (in Sri Lanka) is genocide and it should be stopped somehow, with a just solution,” he said.

Speaking on the significance of the event he said that the conference is a major step towards the recognition of the genocide of the Eezham Tamils.

“From here, the British Tamils’ Forum, working at all stages with all organizations, will consistently expose to the world that what happened there (Sri Lanka) was genocide,” he affirmed.